Le Rouge, George LouisL'Amerique Suivant Le R. P. Charlevoix Jte. Mr. De La Condamine, Et Plusieurs Autres Nouvle. Observations a Paris Par Le Sr. Le Rouge Ing. Geographe Du Roy. Rue Des Grs. Augustins 1746 Paris 1753 - An engraved map of North and South America at the middle of the 18th century, with outline coloring. Some creasing at center fold, several short tears and one 6" tear from the lower edge into an ocean portion, neatly repaired. The map contains a table at the lower left and further notes at the lower right, with a brightly colored and ornate title illustration. Designed by George LeRouge, Louis XV's royal cartographer, the map has a title dated 1746, but is from 1753. The California coast is delineated up to Cap Mendocin, where pure speculation takes over. Alaska and its relationship to the mainland are just an indistinct guess. A Riv. De Louest spans the continent of North America. Collector Warren Heckrotte points out that "In North Pacific Chirikof's voyage is shown and in North America the presumed waterway discovered by De Fonte's. This material was added in 1753, not with the original engraving. This map and Le Rouge's 1744 world map have been pointed out as being the first cartographic representation of the Bering and Chirikof Expedition of 1742, and of the De Fonte voyage. This material was added in 1753; these maps have no priority." Chaplet watermark with countermark, Heawood 239. Wroth, Cartography of the Pacific, 92. P-LG 2720, 4286, 5974. Heckrotte and Dahl, TMC#93, Sept. 1993. ; 19 1/4" x 25"

Johannes van KEULEN II (1704 - 1755). Amsterdam, 1753. Copper engraving (Excellent Condition), sheet: 54 x 31 cm (21 x 12 inches).INDIA - 2 Charts on 1 Sheet: [CHENNAI (Madras) & Pulicat, Tamil Nadu]. De Kust van Coromandel Reede voor Palleakatte. [and] [Cuddalore area, Tamil Nadu] De Kust van Coromoandel Tengepatnam. - A rare and fine pair of sea charts, presented together on a single sheet, of Chennai & Pulicat and the Cuddalore area (Tamil Nadu), from the &#145;Secret Atlas&#146; of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), issued in Amsterdam by Johannes van Keulen II. This lovely and very rare pair of charts on a single sheet features two important areas along India&#146;s Coromandel Coast, in what is today Tamil Nadu, and is from the &#145;Secret Atlas&#146; of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), issued by Johannes van Keulen II in Amsterdam in 1753. The upper chart covers the Madras (Chennai) and Pulicat region, from a westward-orientated perspective. Features along the shore are expressed pictographically, while hydrographic information dots the seas. The position labeled &#145;&#146;t Engles Fort,&#146; surmounted by the English flag, refers to Madras (Chennai), and Fort St. George in particular, while further to the left, is St. Mary&#146;s Church. Founded in 1744, Madras (Chennai) was the capital of the Three Presidencies of the British East India Company (EIC), and the most important European-ruled settlement in Southern India. Just seven years before this map was issued, Madras was taken by the French during the Siege of Madras (1746), Britain&#146;s worst-ever defeat on the Indian Subcontinent, although the city would be retuned to the EIC in 1748. Further to the north (right) is &#145;Palleacatte&#146; (Pulicat), marked with a Dutch tricolour, as it was then an important VOC base. It was established by the Portuguese in 1502 and conquered by the Dutch in 1609. From that time until 1690, Pulicat served as the capital of the Dutch Coromandel (replaced that year by Negapatnam), although it remained an important Dutch post until 1825, when it was ceded to Britain. The prominent Pulicat sandbar, which juts far out into the Bay of Bengal is marked. The fine chart that occupies the lower part of the sheet features the area just to the north of Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu). &#145;Tengepatnam&#146; (not to be confused with the other Tengapatnam, Tamil Nadu, properly known as Thengapattanam, located the northwest of Cape Comorin) refers to a Dutch base built in 1647 to the north of Cuddalore, since abandoned. To the left (south) is &#145;&#146;t Moorse Fort&#146; (the Moorish Fort) which inaccurately named what became Fort St. David. The fort was originally built by the Nayaks of Gingee in 1608, and was taken by the Marathas in 1677. In 1690, the EIC took over the fort, whereupon it became a major British base, stalking Pondicherry, the capital of French India, located a short distance to the north. The town of Cuddalore developed to the south of Fort St. David. A Hindu temple in the interior, labeled as &#145;de Pagood Tierepopeliere,&#146; is employed as a navigational aid. The Secret Atlas of the VOC & the Charts of India The present charts are part of the &#145;Secret Atlas&#146; of the VOC, issued in Amsterdam by Johannes van Keulen II, which featured printed charts based on the manuscript charts that were privileged for the use of the Company&#146;s sea captains. They lend a unique insight into the knowledge of coastal India possessed by the VOC, one of the key players in India during the 17th and 18th Centuries. Exquisitely engraved, the charts reflect the best practices of Dutch maritime cartography. The VOC established a dedicated and highly organized hydrographic office that went to great efforts to obtain the best information on the navigation of the waters around South and Southeast Asia. The Company developed master charts of various regions that were continuously updated by intelligence supplied by ships&#146; captains returning to the Netherlands. For some generations, these charts generally remained in manuscript form so that their dissemination could be carefully controlled, so that their valuable intelligence would not fall into the hands of rival powers, such as the British East India Company (EIC) and the French East India Company. While certain details were occasionally leaked to commercial map printers, much of the most valuable information

Dumont de Montigny; [Georges-Marie Butel-Dumont]; [Mascrier, Abbé Jean Baptiste de]Mémoires historiques sur la Louisiane, Contenant ce qui y est arrivé de plus mémorable depuis l'année 1687. jusqu'à présent; avec l'établissement de la Colonie Franc?oise dans cette Province de l'Amérique Septentrionale sous la direction de la Compagnie des Indes, le climat, la nature & les productions de ce pays, l'origine & la Religion des Sauvages qui l'habitent; leurs moeurs & leurs coutumes, &c. Composés sur les Mémoires de M. Dumont, par M. L. L. M. Ouverage enrichi de Cartes & de Figures. Tome Premier [Second] Chez Cl. J. B. Bauche, Paris 1753 - First edition. Duodecimo. In two volumes. In contemporary leather. Spine with five raised bands, gilt, each with red title vignettes. With marbled endpapers and fore-edge. (6), x, 261, (2) p. and 1 folding map of Louisiana and 5 plates; (4), 338 p. and 4 engraved maps (3 of them folding). First edition of the "Historic Memoirs of Louisiana" important and early history of Louisiana, considered the first reliable account of the state, with much information on the Indians. The number of plates vary, this copy has more than others, that makes it extremely scarce. With five fort maps, one of the the fort at New Orleans, and four fruit tree plates, and the fine folding map "Carte de la Louisiane" (by Chambon), that shows the French territories prior to the French and Indian War, many forts (e.g. Illinois, Natchez, Fort St. Pierre Yazoo, Fort Rosalie, S. Francois, Mobile, Fort des Alibamons, Pensacole) and early settlements (e.g. New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Biloxi, Paskagoula). The first volume describes the natural history of Louisiana, its climate, natural products, flora and fauna, and the customs, origins and religion of the indigenous Indians. The second volume concerns with the history of the state from 1687, the establishment of the French in the province, until 1740, the death of Robert de La Salle who named the territory of the Mississippi basin "La Louisiane" in honour of Louis XIV and claimed it for France. Some authorities erroneously attributed the book to Georges-Marie Butel-Dumont (1725-1788). It was actually edited by Abbé Jean Baptiste de Mascrier (1697-1760), loosely based on the manuscripts that Jean-François Benjamin Dumont de Montigny (1696-1760), a colonial engineering officer and farmer in French Louisiana, had written about his experiences in Louisiana. [Howes L250; Sabin 9605; Field 463; Streeter 125.]. Possessor's inscription and note in ink on first leaf's verso and on half-title in the the first volume. Stain on half title of the second volume. Wormhole to spine of the first volume. Both volumes slightly rubbed at extremities. Overall in fine condition. In two volumes. In contemporary leather. Spine with five raised bands, gilt, each with red title vignettes. With marbled endpapers and fore-edge [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

BARROS, João Borges de, ed.Relação panegyrica das honras funeraes, que as memorias do . D. João V consagrou a Cidade de Bahia Corte da America Portugueza . Lisbon, Na Regia Officina Sylviana, 1753. - Folio (31 x 21.2 cm.), contemporary mottled sheep (recased; recent endleaves), spine gilt with raised bands in six compartments (skillful repairs to head and foot), burgundy leather lettering piece, short title gilt, text block edges sprinkled red. Four engraved vignettes (including one on title-page), 2 engraved initials. Dampstaining in lower quarter, especially to half title and title page, then diminishing but continuing through most of the volume, becoming prominent again in final leaves. Small insignificant worm trace in lower blank margin of final 7 leaves, never affecting text. Overall in good condition. (16 ll.), 326 pp., (1 blank l.). *** FIRST and ONLY EDITION of one of the best anthologies of eighteenth-century literature in Brazil. Borba de Moraes comments, "The scarcity of this volume has led literary historians writing on eighteenth century Brazilian poetry to mention in their studies only those poets whose works were reprinted by Varnhagen. They passed over others whose poems were perhaps more important, and in fact more representative of contemporary style." Many pieces appear here for the first and only time; some were published in later anthologies, such as Varnhagen's @Florilegio.Among the authors included is Manoel de Santa Maria Itaparica, an important Bahian poet, who contributed three sonnets (pp. 122-4), a @Canção funebre (pp. 125-7), and a Latin epigram (p. 128). Itaparica, a native of Bahia born in 1704, entered the monastery of Paraguaçu in 1720. Fr. Jaboatão states in his @Orbe serafico that if it were possible to collect Itaparica's poetical works, they would fill several volumes (quoted in Borba); however, all that now remain are the pieces in the @Relação panegyrica and one poem printed separately, the extremely rare @Eustachidos (n.p., n.pr.). (See Borba I, 421.)Various other contributors were members of the Brazilian Academia dos Esquecidos or Academia dos Renascidos, or both. José de Oliveira Serpa (1696-1758), who was born and died in Bahia, was a member of the Academia dos Esquecidos, and died just a few months before the founding of the Academia dos Renascidos. Eight of his poems are included (p.l. 7@r & 8@v, pp. 48, 49, 50, 51, 138-9, 140), along with eight works by his nephew Silvestre de Oliveira Serpa (p.l. 14@r, pp. 82, 83, 84, 118-21, 132-3, 134-5, 136-7. (On these two authors see Borba I, 17 and II, 793-4.) Antonio de Oliveira contributed three sonnets (p.l. 9@r, pp. 54, 55) as well as the @Estatua de ouro, que . D. João V . erigio nas immortaes, e gloriosas acçoens de sua heroica vida . (pp. 213-47), a sermon preached at Sta. Clara do Desterro in Bahia, which had already been printed in Lisbon in 1752. Oliveira was a member of the Esquecidos and the Renascidos, and although born in Lisbon, had moved to Brazil with his parents when very young. (See Borba II, 626-8, who lists 7 works for this author.)Manuel Fereira Neves, who had no works published separately (see Borba I, 144), contributed 14 works to this volume, among them two lengthy pieces: a "Romance heroico, e esdruxulo" (p.l. 13@r-v) and an "Elogium sepulchrale" (pp. 175-81). He was a member of the Renascidos. The @Culto metrico of José Pires de Carvalho e Albuquerque, often cited as a typical poem of the time, does not appear in this volume, but three other short works by this member of the Renascidos do (pp. 52, 53); according to the citations in Borba, they would seem to be the only other published works by this native of Bahia, b. 1701 (see Borba I, 18). The editor of the volume, João Borges de Barros, another member of the Renascidos and native of Bahia (b. 1706), has eight works included; Borba lists only one other work by him (see I, 84). Domingos da Silva Teles, a member of the Renascidos and chaplain at Guaíba, has six works in this volume (p.l. 8@r, 11@v-12@v, pp. 57, 58, 104-109, and 110-117), including the lengthy "Romance heroico," "Elegia," and "Egloga," but apparently had only one work published elsewhere (see [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

Hopkins, SamuelHISTORICAL MEMOIRS, RELATING TO THE HOUSATUNNUK INDIANS: OR, AN ACCOUNT OF THE METHODS USED, AND PAINS TAKEN, FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL AMONG THE HEATHENISH TRIBE Boston, 1753. Small quarto. Bound to style in antique three-quarter speckled calf, leather label, and marbled boards. Lower 3/8 of titlepage in expert facsimile (the entire title present, authors name and imprint in facsimile). Light foxing to a few leaves. Else very good. "The HISTORICAL MEMOIRS are regarded as one of the foundation stones in the relation between the Whites and Indians in the 18th century..." - Streeter. Hopkins, pastor of a church in Springfield, describes the mission near the intersection of the upper Housatonic River and the Connecticut-Massachusetts line, and its activities from 1734 to 1749. He gives an intimate and detailed picture, often on a day-by-day basis. The mission was conducted by the Rev. John Sergeant, originally recruited for the job by Stephen Williams, son of the "Redeemed Captive" and long active in Indian-white relations in western Massachusetts. This book is really a colonial diary. It is remarkable for its details of daily life, but especially in illustrating the degree to which the lives of Indians and British settlers intermingled in New England before 1750, on one hand; and how education and schooling was conducted, on the other. This book undermines all stereotypes of Indian/White encounter once the frontier had moved westward. There is no better picture of the relationships of the two races during this transitional period on the frontier of New England. This is an extremely rare book and is not listed in Field. In the Streeter copy the title-leaf and last two leaves are in facsimile, which is apparently the case with a number of other copies located. "One of the rarest books relating to New England" - Sabin.

LANGE, Johann Michael. Dissertationes botanico-theologicae tres de herba borith, in quarum ... Altdorf, Jobst Wilhelm Kohles, 1705. 4to. With 1 engraved plate showing 3 numbered figures. Contemporary blind-tooled calf (with pointillé stamps), gold-tooled board edges. Rebacked. . Cf. BMC NH, p. 1055 (1st issue); Pritzel 5041(1st issue). The second, greatly expanded issue of the first and only edition of a Latin thesis on biblical botany, devoted to a Middle Eastern plant the author calls herba borith (soap plant) or Kali arabum, which Linnaeus gave its modern name Anabasis aphylla in 1753. Lange (1664-1731), a minister of the evangelical church in Altdorf, gives an account of the earlier literature, including that by Leonhard Rauwolf, who visited the Middle East in in the 1570s and published his description of the plant in 1582. Lange also gives an extensive analysis of biblical passages in German, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic and Syriac, making considerable demands on the printer's stock of non-Latin types. Parts 2 and 3 provide a detailed exegesis of Jeremiah 2:22 and Malachi 3:2, passages concerned with washing and soap. With two bookplates (ca. 1850). Slightly browned and with a small marginal chip in one leaf, but otherwise in very good condition. Rebacked as noted, with the binding worn at the edges, but the blind-tooling on the boards remains in very good condition. A curious analysis of biblical botany..

SMART, CHRISTOPHER]A complete run of the five Seatonian Prize Poems won by Christopher Smart, 1750-1756, viz: On the Eternity of the Supreme Being, A Poetical Essay; On the Immensity of the Supreme Being. A Poetical Essay; On the Omniscience of the Supreme Being, A Poetical Essay; On the Power of the Supreme Being. A Poetical Essay; On the Goodness of the Supreme Being. A Poetical Essay Cambridge: Printed by J. Bentham, 1753-56 - Five parts, 4to, modern gray wrappers period style, stitched. ? The famous Seatonian Prize Poems, an annual award that commenced in 1750 with the bequest of clergyman Thomas Seaton (1684-1741), who dictated that the prize be awarded to the best poem in English on the supreme being. Christopher Smart, then a student at Cambridge, won the first five out of six years. Fine, large copies. It is highly uncommon to find a complete set in such fine condition. Cf. Rothschild 1865; NCBEL II, 590 Third edition; second edition; second edition; first edition; first edition (respectively). [Attributes: Soft Cover]

LINNAEUS, C.Species Plantarum, exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas. - Holmiae, impensis Laurentii Salvii, 1753. 2 volumes. 8vo (200 x 120mm). pp. (12), 1-560; (2), 561-1200, (32). Contemporary calf, gilt ornamented spines (skilfully rebacked). First edition of the most important work in the world's botanical literature, the foundation of binary nomenclature, and thus the starting point of modern nomenclature. There are two issues of the first volume of the first edition; the present one is the second issue, for which Linnaeus had revised and reprinted three leaves (i.e. E6, F5 & R2). It is therefore to be regarded as the definitive edition. Linnaeus himself named this work his "Magnum Opus". Many leaves have the English common names added in the margin in a contemporary hand. Title with some browning at the outer margin.Hulth 89; Hunt 548; Pritzel 5427; Soulsby 480a; Stafleu & Cowan 4769. [Attributes: Hard Cover]

HALLER, A. DE.Enumeratio Plantarum horti regii et agri Gottingensis aucta et emendata. - Gottingae, A. Vandenhoeck, 1753. 8vo (190 x 125mm). pp. lxxx, 424, (18), with engraved title-vignette showing the botanical garden. Contemporary half vellum, manuscript title on spine. In 1736 Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777) was appointed professor of the newly founded University of Göttingen. In the same year he established the Botanical Garden. He stayed 17 years in Göttingen and the amount of work achieved by him is enormous. Apart from his professorship he foundend the Botanical Garden, an anatomical museum, an obstretrical school and similar institutions, he carried on without interruption original investigations in botany and physiology, the results of which are preserved in the numerous works associated with his name; he also conducted a monthly journal (the Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen), to which he is said to have contributed twelve thousand articles relating to almost every branch of human knowledge. An uncut copy, the last few leaves with some unobtrusive marginal dampstaining.Stafleu & Cowan 2309 [Attributes: Soft Cover]

LAPORTE, Matthieu de.La science des négocians et teneurs de livres, ou instruction generale. Pour tout ce qui se pratique dans les comptoirs des négocians, tant pour les affaires de banque, que pour les marchandises, & chez les financiers pour les comptes. Divisée en trois traités. Nouvelle édition, revûe, corrigée & augmentée. Paris: David l'aîné, 1753 - Oblong octavo (125 x 196 mm), pp. xvi, 608. Contemporary mottled sheep, spine decorated gilt in compartments, morocco label, red edges, marbled endpapers. Spine chipped at head with small portion missing, joints and corners lightly rubbed, with two small worm holes to lower joint; some surface erosion, neatly patched. Occasional light spotting; a very good copy. Perhaps the most famous eighteenth century French work on book-keeping, first published in 1704 and frequently reprinted. "The major part of the book covers double-entry. Several features of the treatment are worth noting. First, de la Porte distinguishes between the 'memorial entier', which is the unified comprehensive book of original entry as described by Pacioli, and the 'memorial divis? en plusieurs parties', which is its replacement by a series of specialised books of original entry, already described by Weddington in 1567. Second, the author deals comprehensively with single and compound journal entries, including transactions with both multiple debits and multiple credits (pp 72-3). Third, fifteen auxiliary books ('livres d'aide') are described and most are illustrated . Fourth, de la Porte advocates the use of two collective personal accounts . Fifth, [he] discusses the transfer of journal entries in the ledger." (Bywater and Yamey, pp. 142-145). Herwood 623; ICAEW, p. 159; Reymondin, pp. 89-90.

Douglass, WilliamA SUMMARY, HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL, OF THE FIRST PLANTING, PROGRESSIVE IMPROVEMENTS, AND PRESENT STATE OF THE BRITISH SETTLEMENTS IN NORTH-AMERICA Boston, 1753. Contemporary gilt calf, expertly rebacked in gilt antique calf, leather labels. Armorial bookplates on front pastedowns and front free endpaper of the second volume. Ownership inscription dated 1806 on each titlepage. Some scattered tanning and foxing, small puncture hole through last dozen or so leaves of second volume. Overall a quite attractive set. Very good. With the reissue of the second volume (the original issue was dated 1751). "First American history of the whole country" - Howes. Douglass was a Scottish physician living in Boston. Although not a work noted for its accuracy, Wroth comments, "Modern critics of the SUMMARY have overlooked the fact that its author was the first to attempt this story from the viewpoint of a resident American...," and further quotes a contemporary critic in the MONTHLY REVIEW as finding it "a fuller and more circumstantial account of North-America, than is any where else to be met with." In his PRESENT STATE OF NORTH AMERICA (London, 1755) John Huske wrote: "There is not one Work yet published to the World in our Language that in any Degree deserves the Title of a History of North America, but Smith's HISTORY OF VIRGINIA, and Douglass's SUMMARY...And this last is only valuable for being the best Collection of facts in general, for a future Historian, that was ever made or published." The completion and publication of the work was interrupted by Douglass' death during the outbreak of the smallpox epidemic of 1752. A work of major importance in the writing of American history.

SCHMIDEL, C.C.Erz Stüffen und Berg Arten mit Farben genau abgebildet. Verlegt und herausgegeben durch Johann Michael Seligmann, Kupferstecher in Nürnberg./ Fossilium Metalla et Res Metallicas concernentium glebae suis Coloribus expressae . - [Nürnberg, J.M. Seligmann, 1753 (-65)]. 4to (215 x 175mm). pp. 1-28; pp. 1-28 (twice present, with Latin- and German text). With 21 beautifully handcoloured engraved plates, some heightened in gold. Later half cloth, green marbled sides. A very scarce work which remained unfinished. It was issued in parts and is hardly ever found complete. The present copy does not have the engraved title. Ward and Carozzi no. 1980 list a copy with 36 pages and 26 plates, the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) copy comprises the same number of pages and plates and the Vienna Natural History Museum has 38 plates. The Carl Krotki copy had 26 plates. The full number of plates and pages agreed upon seems to be 42 coloured plates with 52 pages of text, see Brunet and Cobres. However a few copies have 46 plates, the last 4 plates were published a few years after plate 42 was published. In June 2006 a copy from the Pierre Berès collection was sold in Paris with 46 plates.Schmidel was a famous mineralogist-botanist editing Gesner's posthumous botanical publications. He was professor of pharmacology at Erlangen and served as physician to Margrave Carl Alexander.The plates of the above work are outstanding and belong to the most attractive mineralogical plates ever made. "Gauthier d'Agoty, in his prospectus, discussed the difficulty involved in rendering minerals in color. . He does make an exception here for the work of 'Mr. Schmiedel', whose handcoloured plates showing mineral specimens he acknowledges to be among the best we have in this genre" (Wilson. Mineral books p. 67). [Attributes: Hard Cover]

CAESAR Julius DUNCAN WilliamCommentaries 1753 - (CAESAR, Julius). DUNCAN, William. The Commentaries of Caesar, Translated into English. To Which is Prefixed a Discourse Concerning The Roman Art of War. London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson, et al., 1753. Tall, thick folio (11 by 17 inches), period-style full red morocco, elaborately gilt decorated spine and boards, black morocco spine label, raised bands, marbled endpapers and edges. $18,500.First edition of Duncanâ&#128;&#153;s famous translation of Caesarâ&#128;&#153;s Commentaries, sumptuously illustrated with frontispiece portrait of Caesar, six double-page maps, and 78 splendid plans and plates (most double-page). This copy with the famed double-page bull plate, often not present. An excellent, wide-margined copy, beautifully bound."Beautifully printed, and richly adorned with a variety of fine cutsâ&#128;¦ the greatest part of them being plans of battles, sieges, and incampments, or representations of the situation and face of the countries in which the most material transactions passedâ&#128;¦ The translator has in a great measure caught the spirit of his author, andâ&#128;¦ has preserved Caesar's turn of phrase and expression" (Brueggemann, 520-21). Includes both Caesar's commentaries on the Gallic wars and the civil wars. Additionally includes A. Hirtius Pansa's commentaries on the Alexandrian, African, and Spanish wars. The fine folio plates include double-page maps of Italy, Egypt, Spain, Britain, and Rome from the time of Caesar's campaigns, and illustrations depicting Roman encampments, battles, German and British barbarians, a Wicker Man, and sumptuous victory processions. With indices of place and personal names. Brueggemann, 520-21. Moss, 241-42. ESTC T136453. Early owner ink signature to title page.Repaired closed tear to leaf 4U in Index; a few signatures at rear with faint dampstain affecting lower margin only, no plates affected. Title page and frontis expertly cleaned, frontis with expert repair to closed tear. Double-page plates have been mounted onto new tabs, and many have been expertly remargined, not affecting images. Oversized bull plate and "Battle with the Elephants" plate both folded along edges and trimmed close to title lettering, each with one short closed split and a few reinforcements to verso. An attractive copy, beautifully bound. [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

[Dumont, Georges Marie]MÉMOIRES HISTORIQUES SUR LA LOUISIANE, CONTENANT CE QUI Y EST ARRIVE DE PLUS MEMORABLE DEPUIS L'ANNEE 1687 Paris, 1753. Half titles. Antique half calf and marbled boards, spine gilt, leather label. Very good. A rare and important early history of French Louisiana. "One of the best contemporary histories of French Louisiana, based on the author's twenty-five-year residence in the colony as an army officer, engineer, and planter. The first volume describes the natural history and life of the inhabitants, Europeans and Indians; and the second volume is devoted to the military and political history of the colony from about 1717 to 1740, especially the Indian wars. Dumont's work is the first reliable account of much of Louisiana" - Streeter. The engraved plates depict four different tree specimens, while the wonderful plans show New Orleans and Fort Rozalie des Natchez, as well as a typical Louisiana house plan. The handsome folding map of Louisiana notes the different Indian tribes and villages in the region. This is one of the few reliable firsthand accounts of French Louisiana in the mid-18th century, and far rarer than the works of Bossu or Le Page du Pratz, the other cornerstones of the time and place.